Three Cardinal Rules to Follow Before Designing Your Website

Designing a website can be the first and vital step at creating the identity of your business, product or service online. A good website that meets the appropriate criteria can work towards building the credibility of your product or service online, and increase the professional outlook of your business, thereby adding to its success. While designing a website may seem like a big challenge, the truth is that; once you comprehend the goals that your website needs to accomplish, the process becomes easier. If one has a well-defined and clear plan for your website that is based on adequate research and discussion, the road will be paved with lesser obstacles.

Here are the three cardinal rules to follow when designing your website

#1 – Identify Your Target Audience

One of the very first questions to ask yourself and your team before designing a website is, ‘who is your website going to be created for’? When you identify your target audience, it becomes easier for you to put yourself in their shoes and imagine what they would be looking for, what kind of experience they would want to have, and what ways would they like to interact with your product or service? When you pinpoint the value your product or service can offer consumers, vendors or partners, you are crossing an invisible hurdle right there.

#2 – Ascertain Features That Your Website Needs to Possess

An effective website has many components and elements. Before you get to design a website, you need to determine which of these components are right for your product or service. Here are some of the most common elements that a website must possess:

• Video- Using video is an impactful way to communicate with your consumers. If your budget and timeframe permit you, video is a feature that you absolutely must explore.

• Photography- Images are a crucial component of any website. Without effective imagery, your website would be dull, boring and text-intensive. You can either buy stock images online or shoot new photos, if you have the budgets for it.

• Forms- As a company, product or service that wants to interact with potential customers online, you want to hear back from your users. Forms are a fantastic means of data collection that can give you an insight as to who is visiting your website and why. There are different kinds of forms to explore like contact forms, sign up forms, inquiry forms, order form etc.

• E-commerce- If you want to sell product or service online, an e-commerce function needs to be built into your website. This needs to be taken into consideration when designing a website.

• Social Media- If your brand, product or service has links on the website to dedicated social media pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, and more, it could add much value.

#3 – Define Technological Needs

Possessing adequate technology is yet another vital component of designing a website. The technology you use must support all the elements that your website possesses.